They Came Like Swallows

Rating:
Summary: Worth Reading
Review: I learned of this book thru its being listed by Amazon as one of the ten best books of the 1930s. It is easy to read, but is sad and poignant. It speaks first from the viewpoint of the 8-year-old, then from the viewpoint of the 13 year old, finally the denouement: When I closed the book I realized that it would remain in my memory far longer than most novels. For those of you familiar with Josephine Johnson's Pulitzer-prize-winning novel, Now in November, am I wrong to think this book resonates the way that book has done (read by me over 40 years ago)?

Rating:
Summary: Poignant, spare, taut, memorable
Review: I learned of this book thru its being listed by Amazon as one of the ten best books of the 1930s. It is easy to read, but is sad and poignant. It speaks first from the viewpoint of the 8-year-old, then from the viewpoint of the 13 year old, finally the denouement: When I closed the book I realized that it would remain in my memory far longer than most novels. For those of you familiar with Josephine Johnson's Pulitzer-prize-winning novel, Now in November, am I wrong to think this book resonates the way that book has done (read by me over 40 years ago)?

Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful, Satisfying Read
Review: The novel is split into three sections and each uses a different point of view--first Bunny, then Robert, then the father. The points of view are extraordinarily well realized. An authentic, believable young child's point of view is difficult for any writer to achieve--Maxwell's Bunny rings true--so true it could be the tuning fork. It has no equal.
My only caveat is that I find the original version better than the current edition, which changed a scene or two. (Why?) Read the current edition and go to the library or haunt your used bookstore for the original.

Rating:
Summary: A mother's love is tenderly remembered
Review: W.B. Yeats said: "And yet a woman's powerful character could keep a swallow to its first intent." Bunny is eight and Robert is thirteen the year their mother dies. In 174 brief pages, William Maxwell portrays a mother as seen through the eyes of her husband and two sons. To tender Bunny, his mother is the great protector; to adventurous Robert with one good leg, his mother is his champion who sees him as "normal" and able. To a loving husband, she is the reason his life has taken shape "by her wisdom and by her love." At the end of the book Robert's father asks, "You won't forget your mother, will you, Robert?" The reader won't forget this touching book either. I believe the author's mother died of influenza when he was a child so I wonder how much is perhaps a memoir.

Rating:
Summary: Worth Reading
Review: William Maxwell's short novel is a snapshot of a quintessential American family living during an interesting time. At the first World War comes to an end, the Illinios community is also rocked by an influenza outbreak. But while I found the topic interesting, I also found the characters flat. The youngest son, Bunny, is by far the most developed. In contrast, the father remains more of a sketch. After finishing the book I appreciated the clean, sparse writing style of Maxwell's novel, but didn't much care about saying goodbye to these characters. It's not a book that will linger with me.

Rating:
Summary: The best from the invisible master
Review: William Maxwell, longtime fiction editor for the New Yorker, had a prolific writing career that spanned seven decades. His writing is spare and elegant, his characters genuine. This short(150 pages)novel deals with a family coping with the death of the mother. Each of the three chapters is written from the perspective of one of the survivors -- a preteen boy, a teenage boy, and their father. There is not a wasted or misplaced word in this book. Maxwell manages to capture the depth of experience of each of the characters in very few words. Maxwell should be ranked with the greatest of 20th century American authors; his relative obscurity is a mystery to me. This is my favorite of his novels.

Rating:
Summary: The best from the invisible master
Review: William Maxwell, longtime fiction editor for the New Yorker, had a prolific writing career that spanned seven decades. His writing is spare and elegant, his characters genuine. This short(150 pages)novel deals with a family coping with the death of the mother. Each of the three chapters is written from the perspective of one of the survivors -- a preteen boy, a teenage boy, and their father. There is not a wasted or misplaced word in this book. Maxwell manages to capture the depth of experience of each of the characters in very few words. Maxwell should be ranked with the greatest of 20th century American authors; his relative obscurity is a mystery to me. This is my favorite of his novels.